Did My Time
by BlueMew
Summary: Three years is quite a long time to be separated from one's Yami. . . . COMPLETE
1. Default Chapter

I'm not too sure how this fic is going to turn out. I've been sitting at work and listening to random Korn songs that I've compiled on a mix cd, and for some reason, it reminded me of Malik. I don't know why, I don't know how, I just know that thoughts for a fic kept swirling in my head, and this is the attempt to make sense of them.

Obviously, this is set after the entire of the Yugioh series is over. And it's a Malik-centric fic, probably the easiest character for me to start with writing for this series.

I don't own any characters or any items/ideas from the Yugioh series/manga/etc. 

This is my first attempt at the Yugioh genre, so please review to let me know how I did ^_^

Oh, and one more thing. . . .The italics are Ishtar, which is the name I've given to Malik's yami. To me, it's too confusing to use Malik and Marik, and I hate typing Yami Malik because Yugi's yami is well, Yami. He's not a living, breathing entity like Yami Yugi or the other yamis at this point. So I couldn't justify giving him his own speech bubbles.

****

**_~*~Did My Time~*~_**

**_by BlueMew_**

            _Malik. . . . why have you forsaken me. . . ?_

            The platinum haired young man awoke with a start, throwing his sweat-covered sheets off quickly as he jumped out of bed, heading for his bathroom. 

            The voice had been gone for years, yet over the past week, Ishtar had haunted his dreams and his reality, pleading to be returned to his former host.

            "No, Ishtar, leave me alone!" He screamed at the mirror, slamming his hands against it before shaking violently, needing to grab onto the sink for stability. He didn't want to go back to the institution. The year spent inside those padded white walls were more than enough to press the fact that Ishtar was just a figment of his imagination, and he was a bad influence at that. 

            And he was sane enough to know he didn't want to go back there. 

            Yugi had tried to befriend him after the tournament, before Malik's sister, adopted brother, and mother had him institutionalized. Perhaps he could call Yugi now, years after the tournament had ended, and perhaps the kind-hearted boy turned in to a kind-hearted man, and would talk to him about the torment caused by his yami.

            But what would a phone call do for him? Of course, Yugi would talk to him, but then he'd be alone again. He'd be susceptible to Ishtar's verbal assaults if he stayed alone.

            No, he'd have to go to the Kame Game Shop and pound on the door until Yugi answered and promised to let him stay there until Ishtar was finally gone from his life.

            Grabbing his leather jacket and slipping it on, Malik walked from the apartment wearing the loose grey t-shirt and blue plaid sleeping pants he had been in before the nightmares started, hugging his arms around himself, hoping for some comfort at least. 

            The streets were quiet, as this was a safe neighborhood for one to have grown up in. No one was awake to notice the blond moving silently down the sidewalk, and that suited his purposes tonight. 

            The Kame Game Shop was dark, but he knew that Yugi lived upstairs, so he started pounding on the door, screaming for someone to let him in. Of course, he knew that causing this much of a disturbance was not the best way to prove he was sane, but it was the only plausible way of waking someone up.

            "What's wrong?" Yugi yawned as he opened the door, now a few inches taller than Malik remembered from Battle City. But he froze when the image of the person standing in front of him finally registered, not certain of what was about to happen. "Malik?"

            Pushing Yugi inside, Malik was now frantic to be hidden from the world, less one of the neighbors saw his spectacle. "Yugi, you've gotta destroy the Millennium Rod. Kill Ishtar, please."

            The spiky haired younger man looked up at the blond. "I can't destroy it. Yami wouldn't let me."

            "Yugi, you don't understand. He's driving me insane. Ishtar and I, we're not the same. He wants to destroy people, including me."

            _Why am I to blame? I thought you loved me, Malik._

            The blond screamed, grabbing his head as he fell to his knees inside the shop, muttering for it to go away, to leave him alone, and that he was sane now. 

            Yugi just stood there watching this happen, unsure of what was happening. His Yami never scared him that much, and he'd seen Ishtar before during Battle City. Sure, the spirit of the Millennium Rod was more intense than his own, but Ishtar should not be sending a grown man to his knees in fits of panic. 

            "Malik, come on. Get up, and I'll have Yami help you figure this out, okay?"

            The platinum haired man looked up at the boy in front of him, then shaking, offered him a hand, to which Yugi helped him to his feet. 

            "Th-Thank you."

            Together, the two walked upstairs to the living area of the game shop, where Malik would begin the tale of his demise.

~*~*~*~*~

So should I even continue with this thing? Lemme know!


	2. The Beginning of the End

~*~Did My Time~*~  
Chapter 2  
by BlueMew  
  
"So just tell me how all this began Malik." Yugi sighed as he placed a cup of tea in front of the Egyptian, who reluctantly accepted it, having to hold it with both hands to keep from spilling the contents. "Just why you want Ishtar dead. I know how he came to live in you."  
Malik nodded, still holding the cup with two hands, but not drinking from it yet. "I can try."  
The blond leaned back on the couch, closing his eyes as he sighed. "You defeated me in Battle City and took my beloved Winged Dragon of Ra from me as your prize. Granted, I preferred that you won my card instead of someone like Kaiba or Joey, since neither of them could control that God Card, but nonetheless, I was devastated by the loss of the only dream I'd ever had.  
"You woke me up Yugi. I can't forgive you, but I can't thank you enough as well.  
"As soon as the blimp landed and we could all go home, I met with Rishid and Isis, but both were quite upset with me for conning them in to helping with the Tournament. I did not control either of their minds, please understand that. Rishid was raised to be my servant by my father, and Isis is a woman of Arab descent. My father was quite unhappy that he wasn't manly enough to sire a boy for his first child, so when I was born, my mother told her to constantly praise Allah, my father said to praise Ra, and that she was to always follow my commands, no matter what, because I am the eldest male child.  
"Little did I realize that my sister and adopted brother had become more than friends while I was growing up and oblivious to such matters. Rishid would have never had a thought of betraying me if Isis would not have planted such a thing in his head, even after the incident when he revealed that he wasn't me in the tournament and Ishtar went berserk about such a thing.  
"I remember that. He apologized for his failure."  
"That he did. But Rishid understood that I and Ishtar are two separate entities. Isis was ignorant of this fact, because her yami is even less powerful than yours or Pegasus' was. She never had to observe her body being directed by another entity.  
"So even though my sister was able to partially convince Rishid that I was a danger to everyone in my family and to you and your family as well Yugi, he kept countering the idea that I needed to be disowned with the concept of me needing support from the people around me to rid myself of Ishtar.  
"While my family debated on what to do with me, I had taken up residence in Domino and began careers as a music salesman by day and waiter by night. I was making good money and was able to pay for my apartment and all, but I was lonely without Ishtar, since he lived in the Millennium Rod.  
"I prayed for Ishtar to return to me so my eternal companion could make me feel whole again, and he listened. Ishtar actually obeyed me for once, and I was quite surprised. We had marvelous fun together again, though he was weak because I was no longer in possession of his spirit's home, and he didn't try to take over the world or make me do anything crazy either.  
"And then it started." Malik sighed, slumping even deeper in to the couch, finally taking a sip from his cup of tea. He had never told anyone this much before, not even the doctors at the institution.  
"I don't know how or why, but one night as I was serving tables, Ishtar decided to come visit me at work. He had promised never to touch my mind while I was in public when he left me with the Millennium Rod, so I was surprised when the warm sensation of him joining my body began as he asked permission to enter me, and I received his gesture with an invitation to experience everything that I had been missing since the Rod left my hands.  
"Little do I need to say, Ishtar doesn't like serving people.  
"After about ten minutes, he was bored and wanted me to leave my job so we could go do something more interesting for him. I wouldn't let him, since I didn't need to lose my job. So right there, in the middle of the restaurant while the patrons quietly ate their meals, my yami took control of my body completely.  
"Ishtar insulted the customers verbally, and he physically attacked one man who complained about the meat he had ordered not being cooked to his liking. This continued for a good half hour, because none of the other workers wanted to even try to subdue me, for the man Ishtar attacked looked like a bodybuilder.  
"Then as soon as Ishtar had his fun, he disappeared, leaving me alone and weeping in the restaurant. It was then that the rest of the crew grabbed me and held me until the police arrived. I don't know if that story ever made the news though. No one really was hurt, just a lot of plates and things were broken."  
Malik paused again, rubbing his arms absently. He knew he should continue, he just didn't want to share his intimate secrets with another, though he had come here tonight to do that exact thing.  
Yugi looked over at the platinum blond, wanting to help relieve him of the obvious pain he was plagued with on a daily basis. "Do you want something to eat as well? I'm sure I've got something sugary that will make you feel a little better."  
Malik just shook his head no.  
"Ok. I'll be here when you want to continue."  
He continued rubbing his arms absently, staring down at the floor as he spoke. "This is really humiliating Yugi. I don't know how much I can tell you."  
"Just say what you feel tonight, and if all that you can tell me about Ishtar is what you've already said, then that's fine." The younger man smiled sincerely.  
"I'll try for a little more." Malik sighed again, slipping his shoes off to bring his knees to his chest, hugging his arms around them, looking like the child he had been before receiving the Millennium Rod. "The police didn't know what to do with me. I had destroyed so much at the restaurant, yet from my build and from the fact that I had stopped crying and was able to sit in the station like any reasonable person, they couldn't believe that it was actually me that caused all the damage.  
"When they called my family back in Egypt, my mother, who had already disowned me for not returning home with my sister, told the officers that I was always a crazy child and that I ran away from home while I was underage, but she didn't want me back, so in all practicality, she disowned me at that very moment.  
"Isis decided to drag Rishid and herself to my trial in the lower court, to which I plead guilty for destroying property and for assaulting that one man. But Isis wouldn't let me get away with the plea that I had used saying that I was drugged at the time when I went berserk, but instead had them test my sanity.  
"I passed the first sanity test without any problems because Ishtar was not with me.  
"Isis was terribly upset, and then decided to pull a cruel stunt upon me. My father scarred Rishid's face as he scarred my back, but Isis told a different story when she was called to the stand to testify for my past behavior. She said that in a fit of rage, I attacked and subdued Rishid and carved those hieroglyphs on his face. That is absolutely far from the truth, though I did try to kill Rishid once when Ishtar took control of me when I was a child.  
"Rishid played along with my sister's story, and that was more than enough to upset me, which in turn allowed Ishtar to come to the courtroom to observe what was going on, since he lives in my emotions, making him particularly strong when I am upset or overjoyed.  
"And in the courtroom, Ishtar entered my body on the last day of interrogation. I lost control of my actions, and he attacked Rishid again, calling him a liar and about any other derogatory name one can think of.  
"So Isis's idea of me being insane was proven by one little outburst."  
"I'm so sorry. . . ." Yugi whispered, yawning as he leaned back in his chair before looking at his watch. "And I don't want to be rude, but I do have exams tomorrow, so could we finish this after school? You can come with me if you want."  
Malik nodded to his knees, glad for the disruption so he would not have to finish his story until he was ready. "What's school like? And won't they be upset that I'm there?"  
Yugi was concerned as he looked at Malik from across the room. "You never went to school?"  
Malik just shook his head no.  
"How did you learn a new language? And how do you write things for work?"  
To that Malik just shrugged. "Maybe it was Ishtar, or maybe I'm really smart. I don't know. I just picked up on the language and writing so I could live."  
Yugi yawned again, walking in to his bedroom. "See you in the morning then. Sleep well Malik." 


	3. School

Ok. Well, I'm probably gonna get some negative reviews for some things said in the last chapter, particularly about Isis being taught to be subservient to Malik. Here are my thoughts on this: Malik and Isis were raised underground and taught in the "old ways". So many "old ways" tend to have women as being subservient to men in about every culture. That's just how it was, and I would believe that their father would impose those same beliefs on his children. It's the same reason that Malik would know how to write and understand hieroglyphs. But that's just my opinion. And one more thing. . . .I'm having problems with italics in this chapter, so please understand that // // indicates italics, which indicates Ishtar's mental voice.  
  
~*~Did My Time~*~  
by BlueMew  
Chapter 3  
  
Malik stared down at his hands as he doodled the hieroglyphs he used most frequently when writing as a child in his exam booklet, bored as he sat in the cafeteria wearing one of Joey's extra school uniforms so he would blend in with the rest of the students. The entire senior class had exams today, and he sat in the middle of a pack of students taking this same exam as best he could without being able to read and understand the formal language on a higher level than he used at work.  
So he would fill in an answer if he felt like it, but instead continued writing messages to Ishtar in the vain hope that his yami would come visit him just for a while today. Ishtar could be great company if he behaved; better than the company of silent companions, more concerned about the piece of paper in front of them than the new addition to their group.  
"Psst. Namu." Joey leaned over from his seat next to the Egyptian, calling him by his former alias because it sounded more like the names of the rest of the students. "Quit drawing pictures and write normal so the instructor doesn't yell at you."  
Malik just narrowed his eyes, annoyed by the blond. "I am writing."  
So instead of finishing his own exam, Joey stared over at Malik's test booklet and the hieroglyphs that he continued to etch on its pages. Sometimes, he noticed, Malik would write something, and then hold his hand with the pencil above a blank piece of paper, and it would scribble down some more pictures, which were similar to others Malik had drawn before, but the other set of hieroglyphs seemed sloppier, as if done by someone else.  
But Joey didn't want to think on that. The two minute warning had just been given, so he had to quickly fill in answers so he could finish his exam.  
"Pencils down." Groans of disapproval and sighs of relief filled the cafeteria as the students complied with the instruction. "Pass your tests to the left and then you are dismissed."  
Malik followed suit, handing his test booklet along with all the others from the rest of the row to the girl on his left, then stood, shoving his hands in the pockets of the blue slacks as he walked next to Joey. "I can't believe more people don't go insane from the tedium. And thanks for letting me sit with you. If I would have known that Yugi was in a smaller class I wouldn't have come."  
"It's no problem Namu. If Yugi trusts you now, I'll trust you too." Joey smiled as he led the platinum blond over to where Yugi, Tea, and Tristan were waiting so the five could walk to the game shop now that they were finally done with school.  
Malik remained silent as the four friends caught up with each other about how their respective days had passed, and which exam they had thought to be the most difficult. Malik had to chuckle as Joey tried to describe the "picture-book" he had made, and laughed heartily when Yugi and himself had to explain about how the ancient Egyptians wrote to the chocolate eyed blond.  
If having friends to laugh with was one of the perks of being schooled, Malik was devastated that his family had been so backward in their way of thinking.  
It was not until they finally reached the game shop that attention began to focus to the real reason Malik was with the group. Tea had asked what brought Malik to school in the first place and also what had happened with him after Battle City, because he wasn't as scary as he had been then.  
Malik just sighed as he sat in one of the chairs near a gaming table, pulling one of his old decks out of the coat pocket. "I've been surviving Tea, and well, time changes us all." He looked down at his deck, immediately pulling a change of heart card. "I haven't touched Duel Monster cards since Battle City, and I haven't wanted to."  
Tea sat down at a table near his, turning the chair so she could see into his eyes. "Then why do you have a deck with you?"  
"This?" Malik raised the deck so all could see it as Tristan, Joey, and Yugi sat down around the table as well. "Yugi gave it back to me this morning. See, one of my Rare Hunters came in here after all his years of service, and sold my cards to Yugi's grandfather, so Yugi kept the cards for me all these years."  
Joey glared over at Yugi, who just shrugged as he smiled. "Something funny's going on here. . . .God Yugi, don't tell me you've taken Malik as your lover or something."  
To that, Malik couldn't help but laugh. He'd been called many things during his life, but never a man's lover. "Gods Joey! I've been in the sanitarium, not prison! I've never had a man, nor have I wanted one!"  
Tea, Tristan, and Joey froze upon hearing those words. They had known Malik to be insane while at the Battle City tournament, but to hear him admit to being institutionalized? That was quite unnerving, especially since Isis had explained how Malik had murdered his own father.  
"I. . .I think I was supposed to go buy new ballet slippers tonight." Tea whispered, grabbing her purse tightly to her side as she hurried out the door.  
"I'll go with you!"  
"Me too!" Both Joey and Tristan trotted out after Tea, hoping to get as far away from the lunatic as they possibly could.  
Malik just sighed as he watched them go. "Why don't you run with them too? Apparently I'm still not ready to live a normal life."  
Yugi shook his head, standing and grabbing Malik's hand to lead him upstairs. "You've been living a normal life Malik." The boy whispered, closing the door behind the two. "You're just going through what I went through when Yami first started speaking to me."  
//Malik. . . .I'm just in the other room. . . .come get me so we can be together, forever. . .//  
Malik grabbed his head, slamming his eyes shut as Ishtar's voice entered his mind yet again. "I'm not releasing you."  
//I love you Malik. Do you love me?//  
"STOP IT!" The Egyptian screamed as he sank to his knees still holding his head. "I WANT TO BE NORMAL, SO LEAVE ME ALONE ISHTAR!"  
"Malik!?!" Yugi shouted, shaking his elder by the shoulders. "Malik! Snap out of it! Send Ishtar away forever! Banish him to the Shadow Realm!"  
//The pharaoh took everything from you Malik. . . .even me. I was the one who provided you support. I prayed to Ra every day for your safety and health. I am the only one you can count on, my beautiful boy. Kill the pharaoh and your suffering will end.//  
"K-kill?" He was visibly trembling now as his body was plagued by sobs. "I can't kill anyone Ishtar, and especially not Yugi. He's my friend now."  
//I SAID KILL THE PHAROAH!//  
"MALIK!" With a crack of a hand across his cheek, Malik blinked back to reality, staring through tear-filled eyes at the boy in front of him. "Sorry, but I didn't want Ishtar to win, so I had to bring you back to reality any way I could. Do you want some ice for your cheek?"  
"No, I'll be fine." Picking up his borrowed jacket from the floor, Malik headed toward the bathroom. "I'm going to shower first, then if I could have some dinner, I'll finish my story Yugi." 


	4. Continuation of Ishtar

****Sorry for the slowness in posting, working on three fics at a time is never a good idea. But first I would like to thank all my reviewers for their supportive comments, and then I'd like to answer a question that was posed in a review. . . .

            Well, it was more of a statement, but anyway, Lime, this is for you.

           Maybe it does seem like I'm going to pair off Malik with Yugi, but that's not the point I'm trying to make with this fic. I don't want to pair up anyone actually. And you'll see in this chapter why Ryou and Bakura will most likely not make an appearance any time soon. 

            So there are no pairings here but a mentioned RishidxIsis.  ****

****

**_       ~*~Did My Time~*~_**

**_   Chapter 4_**

**_by_****_ BlueMew_**

****

            Emerging from the shower room, his hair still dripping and with only a pair of sleeping pants on, Malik was surprised to see Yugi waiting at the dinner table with a meal prepared for the both of them. It wasn't more than instant noodles and chilled tea, but Malik truly appreciated the gesture, sitting down across the table from the younger man and slowly eating the meal.

            Both ate in silence, listening to the commotion of the after school crowd that came to play the featured game of the day, and Yugi couldn't help but smile as he heard his grandfather directing the children below toward the cards and expansion packs they should buy.

            Malik sighed as he finished his meal, picking up his trash and depositing it in the wastebasket under the sink, then walked back to the table where Yugi remained, resting his elbows on the table so that he could support his chin in his hands as he looked over at little Yugi.

            "How did Ryou overcome the spirit of Bakura?"

            Yugi shook his head. "He didn't. Ryou moved back to England, and I haven't heard from him since then. That was two years ago. But I think you have something in common with Ryou, Malik." Yugi looked deep in to the violet eyes across the table from him. "I think you don't really want to leave Ishtar behind. Why else would Joey say that your writing changed from sloppy to neat every other line you penned if you weren't holding a conversation with Ishtar while you were at school?"

            The platinum haired young man just snorted, running fingers through his tangled hair. "Joey is an idiot, Yugi. He doesn't know how hard it is to write like I do."

            "Don't insult Joey, he's my friend." Yugi shot back, holding on to the Millennium Puzzle, which he still wore around his neck. "Besides, Joey has usually been right when he says he feels that something is wrong."

            Standing up, Malik moved from the table to look out the upper window above the sign for the game shop. This was becoming just as annoying as all the doctor visits when he had been in the hospital. 

            But Yugi wasn't a doctor, and he knew that the kind-hearted fool would never call the police to have him arrested or committed again unless he pulled some dangerous stunt, so what harm would it be to speak his mind?

            "So what if I enjoy having conversations with Ishtar. You frequently talk out loud to seemingly no one when you want to get Yami's attention."

            "That's not the same, and you know it!" Yugi had to stop before he said something he would regret in his anger, so after taking a sip of his tea, he continued. "Malik, maybe if there was a way to wipe Ishtar's mind clean like Yami's memories had been at the start of Battle City, you could coexist with him and even carry the Millennium Rod around again, but with Ishtar still being a dangerous entity, you shouldn't be allowing him to take control of your body anymore."

            "I was just writing to Ishtar during the test." He shrugged, then waved at a group of girls that were staring up at the window where he stood before moving away to lean against the bathroom door, his hair still clinging to his face and shoulders from the dampness. "Ishtar misses having a host too Yugi. Can't you feel him in the Rod, trying to break free so he can return to my body even at this very moment?"

            Closing his eyes, Yugi concentrated on the other Millennium Items that were in his possession. The tauk rested lightly on the mannequin that Yugi kept in his room, and the spirit that resided in it lay dormant as always. The eye rested on Yugi's desk, and the spirit that had controlled Pegasus was moving about the room, still searching for something to amuse itself with, but it was absolutely harmless. Of course, Yami was ever-present in Yugi's mind, and he listened intently to everything Malik had to say, waiting for the right time to show himself so he could fix the problem with Ishtar. 

            And then he allowed his mind to move to the Rod, which was kept in his grandfather's bedroom. Ishtar was certainly active, and the emotion resounding through his mind was that of pure rage. 

            "Ishtar will hurt you again Malik. Please, give up contact with him, and if you won't do that, well," Yugi sighed, clutching the Millennium Puzzle around his neck. "I guess I'll have to destroy the Millennium Rod. I can't bear to see a friend hurting."

            Friend? Malik glanced over at the younger man, not certain of what he should do or say next. Yugi actually considered him a friend? 

            "After everything in Battle City, you'd call me a friend. . . ." The statement was almost inaudible, but Yugi smiled when he heard those words, knowing that the Egyptian would have to fight his own demons yet again to be able to truly accept friendship.

            _Nonsense! The Pharaoh just wants less competition, so he's become willing to destroy me Malik! Do you think he'd actually WANT you as a friend? Someone as ignorant and worthless as you!?! I am the only one that is truly your friend, beloved master. Remember how I always protected you and kept you safe when the authorities were trying to capture you? Remember who was there to keep you company when you were bound and left to sit in a padded white cell. . . ._

            "Malik, you are my friend. Even though you controlled people's minds and were really mean during Battle City, we still share a common bond between our Millennium Items. So I want to help you, no matter what."

            The Egyptian just sighed, heading back over to the couch and laying across the cushions. "Like I said last night, my family made certain that I was sent to that hellacious place by tricking me in to releasing Ishtar in the middle of the courtroom. 

            "I arrived at Mercyhurst Wellness Center the next day, and immediately I was stripped of my suit and jewelry and they forced me to wear a solid white jump suit. I knew that I didn't belong with the other lunatics in the center, so I hoped that by complying with their rules and being friendly with the doctors and staff that I could be released early for not showing signs of insanity.

            "The problem was that no matter how normal I acted, the doctors would describe any "normal" habit for my culture, such as eating with my hands instead of chopsticks or a fork or my pleading for my jewelry back, as those of someone that was insane. 

            "So just as if someone started telling you that your hair looks hideous today, Yugi, and then told you this same line ten times or more a day, every day of the week, you would start to believe what they said, and you would change your hair to what the person wanted. 

            "That is why I became insane. I was constantly told the symptoms of how I should act and how I should dress, so after it was drilled into my mind, I began to speak in a low voice to myself about Rishid, you, Bakura, or Ishtar. I began to have violent outbursts when I didn't get my way for anything. I began believing that I was Ishtar. 

            "The belief that I was Ishtar, a few millennia old Egyptian bodyguard for the Pharaoh, didn't help to prove my sanity.

            "So Ishtar, seizing the opportunity to take an already fragile mind back in to his own, entered my body one night, and was able to stay longer than the usual half hour visits he paid. 

            "He raped and killed two nurses in the morning when they came to check on me and deliver my breakfast, then sent their bodies to the Shadow Realm. No one ever found out the nurses were dead. 

            "When he left me that time, I was broken. I had never, EVER allowed Ishtar as much freedom as he gave himself that day. When I was with a woman before the incident, Ishtar had to live in the Rod and not come out until she was gone the next morning. Perhaps he was jealous of me. I don't know.

            "The doctors found me around noon when I did not arrive for lunch, huddled in a ball against the farthest wall from the door, shaking and crying, muttering something about "not wanting those girls". 

            "The doctors were confused at how badly I'd deteriorated since I'd come to the facility, and now put me in a smaller padded cell, restraining me with a straight jacket because I had been screaming suicide threats anytime I felt Ishtar's presence near me. 

            "The next half year I spent in therapy, until I was fit to return to the world, or so they said. I've continued with my therapy, but you can see it's not working." Malik sighed, his chest heaving with the breath. "I won't talk to them about Ishtar anymore after what happened that last time."

            Yugi folded his arms and sighed, still deep in thought as he tried to analyze Malik's story. It sounded logical enough, so he was probably telling the truth. "I think you may need to confront Ishtar and put him in his place. We'll wait until my Grandpa goes out with Joey after the shop closes tonight, then we'll call upon his spirt. 

            "I just want you to be free Malik."


	5. Khalid

_"The cities grow_

_The rivers flow_

_Where you are, I never know_

_If you were right and I was wrong_

_Why are you the one who's gone_

_And I'm still here"_

_-"I'm Still Here", Vertical Horizon_

**_~*~Did My Time~*~_**

**_        Chapter 5_**

**_      by BlueMew_**

****

            The electric glow of the lights of the modern age flooded the room where the two men sat waiting for any indication that the time was correct to begin their quest for salvation. Tonight would be the best chance at controlling the spirit of the Millennium Rod, and together, the former Pharaoh and the host of his former guard would try as best they could to bring peace to the spirit.

            This was the seventh attempt in a week long trial to see if the Spirit of the Rod could ever be tamed, and though the first two nights had been quite eventful, with Ishtar causing Malik to harm himself with any nearby object that could cause pain, and had even threatened to hurt Yami if he tried to interfere. But the third night until now had been quiet, and Ishtar had obeyed Malik's instructions, to the delight of both men.

            Outside, street lamps began to glow, adding more light to the already bright room, causing the Egyptian to shield his eyes from the onslaught directed at the senses. 

            He could hear children playing nearby, shrieking and laughing in their juvenile games. They knew nothing of the power that was being held in the small room on the second floor of the Kame Game Shop. None of the foolish mortals cared of ancient powers and legends that were being called upon this night, not knowing that a single belief in such a concept could bring about their own personal redemption or destruction.

            Then again, Duel Monsters and everything associated with it was just a game.

            The Egyptian shifted in his seat, growing increasingly more uncomfortable as he waited for the spirit of the Rod to try to control him yet again.

            "Be patient." Yami instructed, still holding the Rod. "Ishtar will show his face soon enough, then we will begin the rituals again."

            Hugging his arms around himself again, Malik just shook his head. "Ishtar isn't coming tonight. He knows what we plan to do."

            For hours, both young men waited for the Spirit of the Rod to come take its place in Malik, but Ishtar never arrived. Perhaps he had just decided to move on and to stop tormenting the young man, or maybe he had fled to the recesses of the Rod making him dormant like the other spirits.

            It was Malik that gave up the vigil first, heading to the couch and laying down to sleep while the former Pharaoh kept watch over the young man. Yami was certain that Ishtar would show up tonight if Malik wanted him, and he knew that the Egyptian did not wish to have the spirit pulled from him yet.

            Yugi remained awake for the entire night, keeping his vigil over Malik's sleeping body. He looked peaceful as he lay in his placid dreams, almost as he had looked the first time Yugi placed the tauk around his neck and seen the visions from when he and Isis were children. 

            What had he given her back then? Oh yes, a wreath of flowers. Perhaps that could be a key to his redemption. But then again, he was willing to try anything at the moment.

            Before Malik opened his eyes, he breathed in the morning air, smiling as he caught the scent of roses and incense. How wonderful it was to have such vivid memories of one's childhood, no matter how far one's innocence had fled.

            But as he opened his eyes, he was not in the cold pyramid that he had loathed when he was a child, but he was in a small room with the spirit of the Pharaoh watching over him.

            Had this been the reason Ishtar had started his service to the Pharaoh? The spirit was incredibly kind and generous, and he would have made for the perfect employer in a time when most people barely made a living with what they could produce.

            "He didn't come to my dreams either. I think I may be ready to try to take the Rod back." Sitting up, Malik wiped the sleep from his eyes, smiling at how beautiful the room looked.

            Yami smiled as he stood, still holding the Millennium Rod in his left hand as he moved toward the Egyptian. "Come back if you ever need anything again Malik."

            Holding the Rod in his hand, Malik smiled as he felt the weight in his hands, loving how the polished gold glistened against his copper skin. Slipping it in his belt, he bowed to Yami, thanking him immensely for his help over the past few days, and promising that he would return if he had any troubles with Ishtar. 

~*~*~*~*~

            Isis knelt on the floor clapping the hands of a blond haired baby, cooing as she helped the child dance around the stony floors of its underground house.

            She and Rishid had been quite surprised when seeing the child's light hair color when Khalid was born, but both just attributed it to the simple fact that Malik, her brother, was even lighter haired than their child. 

            Khalid's skin was as olive as his mother's, and he had his father's graying eyes. The boy would have a wonderful childhood ahead of him in the sanctuary of his parent's world, especially now that his uncle would never come back to live with them.

            Scooping the boy up in her arms, Isis headed toward his nursery to put him to bed for his afternoon nap. 

~*~*~*~*~

            Weeks had passed since Malik had the encounter with Yami and Yugi, and Ishtar had plagued his waking moments since his arrival home the next day. It was just like the old times before Battle City, where the Spirit of the Millennium Rod suggested what his host would do for that day, and Malik would willingly oblige, even if he did not wish to harm people verbally or physically. 

            He was certain that the police would be after him again, since Ishtar controlled his actions while at the bar they had gone to the previous night, and he assaulted two men for thinking that he was gay. 

            Just because a man wears leather and violet silk does not make that man a homosexual! It just means he has good fashion sense, or so Malik continuously told himself.

            But he had no time to think on why the men had provoked Ishtar's wrath, for he had to continue packing his belongings so he could leave the country and take up residence somewhere else. 

            He would leave everything that was not essential behind in the apartment, and the Egyptian had two suitcases in which he kept his whole life; one suitcase was full of just Duel Monster cards he would sell to make money.

            The only other thing that he wanted to take was the Millennium Rod. Picking up the ancient artifact, Malik traced his hand over the ball and wings on the top, sighing as he stared at the reflection of himself.

            "Why couldn't you leave them alone? I liked it here."

            _They insulted us, and I know that you would have done the same thing if I were not here with you. Besides, we need a change beloved, and since you refuse to kill the Pharaoh, I've decided we need to see the world. I've never been to either of the __Americas__ or to __Europe_.__

            Malik stopped and stared at the Rod. Was Ishtar talking sensibly for once? "You could have just asked me to go to America while on vacation. I want to see it as well, so I would have agreed."

            _Would you? Don't lie to me Malik. You're too cheap to ever go on vacation overseas, unless you have a plan for terrorizing or swindling the locals. _

            "I'm not like you Ishtar." Malik spat, his grip on the Rod tightening as his temper flared. "I don't want to destroy the order of the world!"

            _No, you don't want to destroy the world. Just enslave it, am I right beloved?_

            "LEAVE ME ALONE!" 

            _You don't mean that Malik. You never have. Yugi was correct in stating that you are like that fool Ryou. You can't exist without me. But ask yourself this- can I exist without you?_

            "I. . ." Howling in pain, Malik held the Rod as if it were a baseball bat, slamming it against the outer wall of the apartment, keeping his hands tight against the vibrations of the metal as the impact resounded through the shaft. "I CAN EXIST WITHOUT YOU!"

            Malik continued to slam the Rod against the concrete wall as the maniacal laughter resounded in his head. The Spirit of the Rod was enjoying this display of aggression, and Malik was not about to give it the satisfaction of him stopping before its home was completely destroyed. 

            "I WILL NEVER BE YOUR PAWN AGAIN!" With a final mighty swing, the Millennium Rod hit the wall, this time shattering in to thousands of fragments which scattered themselves around the room. 

            Malik just smiled as he looked around him, still panting from the physical and mental exertion he put out to destroy the relic, but the laughter had stopped. "He's gone. Praise Ra, I can be normal again."

            Life was going to be better now that Ishtar had been permanently silenced, Malik was certain of this as he bent down to pick up his two suitcases, ready to go start his new life somewhere that he would not have to worry about the past ever again.

            A sharp pain in his chest doubled him over as he tried to lift the suitcases, and he grabbed his heart as more jolts of what felt like electricity raced through his veins. Was this what a heart attack felt like? Malik mused as he grabbed on to the counter with his other hand, steadying himself as he stood in his kitchen. 

            Perhaps Ishtar had been trying to warn him after all when he spoke about Malik not being able to live without him, and he regretted his recent actions, falling to his knees and searching for pieces of the Millennium Rod, hoping to place them back together so he could restore Ishtar to his proper place in the universe. 

            "No. . . ." Malik whispered as he slid to the ground, the pains in his chest intensifying as he moved. "I can't die. . . .not yet. Ishtar, please." The words were whispered as Malik felt his own life spirit flowing out from his body in to the pieces of the Millennium Rod. "I love you Ishtar, and I forgive you for everything I've ever accused you of doing. Please, just come back to me. . . . ."

            But there would never be an answer given to the dying man from the spirit that had resided in his body for years. Ishtar had left with the Millennium Rod being shattered, as he was free from his bondage to this son of the line of descendents whom he had pledged his service to thousands of years prior. 

            As the spirit of Malik left his earthbound body, it infused the pieces of the shattered Millennium Rod, causing the artifact to reconstruct itself and find its place into the hands of its victim. 

            Perhaps his death would make the news, and perhaps Yugi read the obituaries section of the paper, allowing for at least one person to attend his funeral, but the spirit of Malik knew that the Egyptian body he had dwelled in would never be mourned, for it would never be discovered by anyone who cared about him.

~*~*~*~*~

            "Khalid. . ." Isis smiled down at the child she cradled in her arms, staring in to his grey eyes, searching in their depths for the intensity of her son's soul. "What will the future hold for such a beautiful little boy?"

            Rishid walked in to the room where his wife and son were sitting, carrying a long white box, which he cradled against his chest. Silently, he set the package down at his wife's feet. Isis placed Khalid on the ground, the baby giggled as he trotted over to his father, pulling on his long black robes and asking to be picked up, to which Rishid obliged with a smile. 

            "Where did you get this?" Isis picked up the package, setting it on her lap as she slid a fingernail through the tape that bound it closed.

            "It was on your mother's bed, but she refused to touch it, saying that it did not belong to anyone but you now."

            Isis stared in horror at the contents of the package- the Millennium Rod. It was supposed to be in Yugi's possession, not back in Egypt without a rightful owner to claim it!  She would call Yugi tomorrow to demand his reasons for such an action, but for now, she would need to place the Rod back in its rightful place deep within the tomb of the Pharaoh. 

            "Rishid, come with me." She whispered, still holding the Rod, leading her husband and her son in to the depths of the pyramid to where the Millennium Rod would find its eternal resting place yet again. 

            Isis sighed in relief as the Rod fused back in to the stone, knowing that its menace would not be present in her lifetime again. She walked back over to Rishid, taking Khalid from his arms, then started back up the stairs, cooing about how glorious today was, for one of the evils that walked the earth would not come to haunt the child.

            As she continued to stare in to her son's eyes, Isis gasped as she noticed the color fade away to that of intense lavender, something that she had only seen in people like her father and her brother, but only when their Millennium Items took control of their minds.

            His eyes still remained the new violet color she had noticed before, and she almost dropped her son when he giggled and muttered something about her being funny.

            Still holding Khalid, Isis ran to her husband who had remained in the chamber of the tomb and handed the baby to him. "Gods, Rishid, look at him! He's being possessed!"

            The bald man stared down at his son, pushing his bangs from his face to stare in to the boy's eyes for quite some time, but then handed him back once he was done. "Isis, go up to the surface for a holiday. You apparently need one, for Khalid is absolutely fine."

            Isis, though upset with Rishid's advice, walked away from him to find clothing for a trip to the surface, leaving the child with him. She didn't want to be near Khalid anymore, for he seemed just as frightening as Malik had been those last few times she had been near her brother. 

            Rishid could deal with the boy. She would wash her hands of the entire problem, leaving her to continue her duties as the Oracle. 

            Khalid watched as his mother left the room, who in turn was followed by his father, the boy's eyes continuing their inhuman violet glow as a smirk spread across his infantile lips. Tottering over to the stone tomb of the Pharaoh, Khalid reached up to where the Millennium Items remained in stasis while they rested over the years, and to his delight, the Millennium Rod yielded to his touch as he lifted it from the tomb and carried it off with him back toward the nursery where he lived. 

            His parents would be devastated to see what their son had discovered in their absence, as Ishtar had been born in violence, leading every descendant of his line that carried the blessing and the gift of the Spirit of the Rod to a premature and gruesome death, or an existence plagued by insanity.

            Perhaps in this child Ishtar would finally find a home, a body to place his troubled spirit so that he could find redemption and finally be allowed to move on to the true afterlife.

            But then again, he was just a baby. . . . .


End file.
